Looking Towards a Shared Tourism Development Model

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Looking Towards a Shared Tourism Development Model

Hua Hin: -- Dr Roongroch Seelungsawat is one of those community Members who really contributes in a personal way to the ongoing development of the Region as a sustainable tourism centre.

He is the President of the Hua Hin/Cha-Am Tourism Association as well as being the Vic President of the Federation of Provincial Tourist Associations and the Vice President of the Tourism Council of Thailand. He has also been a Deputy Mayer of the Hua Hin Municipality. But that together with being the Managing Director of his family’s long standing business, the Hua Hin Grand Hotel & Plaza, and an educational background in engineering and education and you have a very well informed spokesperson on tourism planning issues for the Region.

However one of the big issues in tourism development, as Dr Roongroch points out, is that there really is no ‘Hua Hin & Cha-Am Region.’ There are two separate Provinces involved with even the ‘small matter’ of obtaining funding for any organisation or project that crosses these borders being problematic.

His ‘big picture’ issue is the lack of a joint vision or corporate model for how tourism, particularly the infrastructure needs, is developed in a way that is cooperative, manageable and provides for the long term future for the communities concerned. As the growth between Hua Hin and Cha-Am continues and the boundaries become even more blurred, he feels that the need for this shared vision is rapidly becoming even more important. Suggestions of a ‘Special Zone’ including both locations have been placed on the table, but the structural and splintered responsibilities of a variety of government agencies and interests remain a stumbling block.

The enforcement of regulations and requirements on developers to provide for the infrastructure needs created by the number of large projects is also a subject t he feels very passionate about.

The Hua Hin/Cha-Am Tourist Association has been drawing together a range of service providers in the tourism industry as a group with a voice in the tourism future for some 16 years. They meet monthly and on 7^th/8^th March will be hosting the annual Provincial Association Conference in Hua Hin. Once again ways of managing tourism and development growth is on the agenda.

A recent tourist survey suggested that the issues most important to visitors are security and a ‘clean/green’ environment. This particularly relates to traffic noise and congestion, air quality, water and beachfront cleanliness. Dr Roongroch is passionate about the need to have the agencies concerned effectively plan together for these issues to be better managed. Once again his plea for a shared ‘corporate vision’ becomes relevant.

Talking to Dr Roongroch was an opportunity to better understand the complexities of tourism development in Hua Hin and Cha-Am. Financial management, including the contributions of developers to infrastructure, is a part of these complexities. However he understands that until a shared vision is established, the effective management of a sustainable future for the tourism industry will remain difficult to achieve.

-- Hua Hin Today 2014-01-31